Tag Archive for: Scriptwriter

Harris looking to Aintree with Triumph absentee Scriptwriter

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Milton Harris will target Aintree with Scriptwriter after he failed to line up in the JCB Triumph Hurdle on Friday due to scoping dirty.

Scriptwriter contested Group races on the Flat for Aidan O’Brien and has become a decent hurdler. In the care of the Wilshire handler, he is one of the leading British juveniles.

Winner of Cheltenham’s Grade Two Triumph Hurdle Trial in November, the four-year-old reverted to the Flat to win at Wolverhampton on his next outing before returning to Cheltenham to find only Comfort Zone too good.

He carried a penalty for his Grade Two success when beaten favourite in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton and while not near his best, Harris had hoped he would bounce back in the Triumph.

Scriptwriter will now head to Aintree in a bid to emulate Knight Salute, who capped a remarkable juvenile season by landing the Anniversary 4-Y-O Hurdle at the Grand National meeting last year.

“Scriptwriter is fine,” said Harris. “He will now go to the Grade One at Aintree.

“It was just that the scope wasn’t clean, and it was not worth the trouble.

“It’s a pity as I was hopeful he’d run a nice race and show us the form we know he is capable of. We’ll be all right, don’t worry.”

Knight Salute, who was last seen finishing third in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton in November, is still battling to recover from a major injury after an operation the following month.

“He had to have a rotten tooth taken out under anaesthetic and he injured himself getting up after,” said Harris. “He’s obviously out for the season and we’ll do what’s best for him.

“It’s a huge shame, but it shows you how fragile these brilliant animals are.”

Harris plotting Adonis triumph for Scriptwriter

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Scriptwriter could cement his place as Britain’s leading JCB Triumph Hurdle hope in the Coral Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton.

Milton Harris won the Grade Two contest with Knight Salute 12 months ago and is treading the same path to the Cheltenham Festival with his classy recruit from Aidan O’Brien’s all-conquering Flat string.

A winner of his first two hurdling starts and also successful when having a spin on the all-weather at Wolverhampton in December, he was beaten less than a length by Joseph O’Brien’s Comfort Zone at Prestbury Park on Trials Day.

He lost little in defeat that day and Harris now hopes he can regain the winning thread to gather some momentum towards the Festival in this £80,000 contest.

Scriptwriter (left) jumping a final hurdle at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day
Scriptwriter (left) jumping a final hurdle at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day (David Davies/PA)

He said: “He’s in good form. It’s well publicised that Paddy (Brennan) and I both agree that we got tactics a bit wrong at Cheltenham last time, without wishing to take anything away from the winner.

“It’s going to be a difficult task with a penalty, but he seems in good form and is probably the leading British juvenile and I have no problem with the horse’s form and well-being heading into the race.

“The Adonis is a good race in its own right and we did consider going fresh to the Triumph, but this is an £80,000 good race and it needs supporting. Cheltenham isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything, even though it is clearly our main target, but he is a juvenile hurdler.

“This horse has a Flat rating of 104 and ran to 104 when he ran on the Flat not so long ago and you have to ask yourself could any of these run to 104 on the Flat?

“We’re very happy and have had a clean run (since Cheltenham) and it would be very good for Paddy and the owners. The horse is a very nice horse and we’ll be doing our best.”

Scriptwriter has another Joseph O’Brien horse to take on this time in the form of Nusret – who looked good at Punchestown in the autumn before finishing third in deep contests the last twice.

Paul Nicholls also looks to have a smart prospect for a race he has won three times in the last 10 years in the form of Rare Middleton.

A winner at Leopardstown for Andy Oliver in the autumn, he soon transferred to Ditcheat for 215,000 guineas and made a winning debut for the champion trainer at Taunton last month.

“A useful handicapper on the Flat in Ireland, he made a pleasing hurdles debut for us with a tidy victory at Taunton early in January,” Nicholls told Betfair.

“That wasn’t the strongest of maiden races but he has come on nicely at home and this has always been his target.

“I’m hopeful that Rare Middleton can now raise his game on good ground that will suit him at Kempton. This race will tell us whether he goes for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham or waits for Aintree.”

Alan King is another with a fine record in this event and relies on Spartan Army, while Nicky Henderson last won this in 2019 with Fusil Raffles and unleashes the former William Haggas-trained mare Pawapuri, who was rated 85 on the level and looks an interesting hurdling newcomer for the Seven Barrows handler.

A new name to the training ranks is Ben Brookhouse and he is looking to his first-ever winner Sarsons Risk to build on victory at Doncaster and put his name on the map.

He said: “He seems to have come out of Doncaster well and he is a likeable type and seems to want to do it.

“He only had three days off after Doncaster but it was like a piece of work to him in all fairness. We are just pressing on now and looking forward to the Adonis.

“I think he is very special and he has a big engine now that we have sorted his wind issue out. His jumping at Doncaster was as slick as you like, which is a big thing for juveniles.

“I think he definitely deserves his place on Saturday. There is the voice in your head telling you he will win this without too much fuss, potentially, but then you have the realistic voice in your head saying everyone is thinking this. I think he has got a very good chance but the opposition is strong.”

Gary Moore’s Perseus Way finished second to Scriptwriter at Cheltenham on his hurdling debut and has gone on to acquire a rating of 125 over timber thanks to a placed effort in a Chepstow Grade Two and a commanding victory in the Chatteris Fen.

Perseus Way comes back under Jamie Moore
Perseus Way comes back after winning at Huntingdon under Jamie Moore (PA)

That Huntingdon success was given a timely boost when the runner-up bolted up at the same track on Thursday, but Moore believes his charge needs to raise his game.

He said: “It will be different to Huntingdon, a bit tougher race.

“He’s wrong with a few horses in the race handicap wise, but I just felt he had to have a go. He can go there and get the same prize money as the Fred Winter and I think the track will suit him.

“He’s a horse we like a lot, but he’s got to up his game a bit on Saturday. Scriptwriter is a 104-rated Flat horse isn’t he, but he wasn’t far behind him at Cheltenham the first time so we’ll just have to have a go at it.”

Scriptwriter’s owner Adams will be back on more familiar ground this weekend

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Prominent owner Mark Adams hopes it will be ‘downhill’ all the way for Scriptwriter in Saturday’s Coral Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton.

The Milton Harris-trained four-year-old is among Britain’s top hopes for the JCB Triumph Hurdle, despite having his colours narrowly lowered by Comfort Zone in the trial at Cheltenham last month.

A Group Three performer for Aidan O’Brien on the Flat, Harris shrewdly purchased the Churchill gelding and he won on all three starts for the Warminster handler before going down by three-quarters of a length to the Joseph O’Brien-trained Comfort Zone.

Adams, who also co-owns the likes of last season’s Adonis Hurdle and Aintree’s Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle winner Knight Salute, and last season’s Grand National ninth Jacamar, hopes Scriptwriter can bounce back in the Grade Two contest at the Sunbury track.

“He’s well and we are looking forward to the Adonis and seeing how we got from there,” said Adams.

“I have a lot of faith in the horse, so we have high hopes.”

On Sunday, Harris was in St Moritz to see the Middleham Park-owned Mordred finish unplaced in the Evangelos Pistiolis Foundation – 83rd Grosser Preis von St Moritz, a local Group Two contest on the ‘White Turf’, which was reduced to four furlongs because of melting snow.

The Warminster handler was also an interested bystander as Adams took part in Skijoring, a winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse, dogs or a motor vehicle.

“It has not gone to plan so far,” said Harris. “Mark got taken out at the start by another horse on Sunday and there’s often a bit of carnage in it. It is not for the faint-hearted.”

Skijoring races span three consecutive weekends and not being one to shirk a challenge, Adams is keen to return for some unfinished business next year.

“I was a bit banged up and bruised last week, but not this weekend,” said the owner.

“I got taken out at the start. One of the other drivers couldn’t control their horse when he came out of the stalls and took me off the track in the wrong direction.

“I managed to turn my horse around, but they wouldn’t let me join in the race. It was disappointing.

“This is the first time I’ve done it, I’ve just got my licence to race this year.

“Milton had been talking about it for a few years. I ride horses as well and kind of put the two together, but I came out and didn’t quite realise how big an event this is.

“I haven’t quite made my mind up if I will do it next year, but I feel a bit frustrated this year and a bit unfulfilled.

“So I am probably going to have to come back next year and have a go.”

Adams quipped: “Milton will probably give me a shove, regardless. I don’t think he’d do it – I’m not sure they’d find a horse big enough to tow him!”

Harris backing Scriptwriter to produce winning performance

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Milton Harris insists Scriptwriter has blossomed and hopes the evidence will be there for all to see in the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle, the first of a nine-race bumper card at Cheltenham on Saturday.

A Group Three performer for Aidan O’Brien on the Flat, Harris shrewdly purchased the Churchill gelding and he has won on all three starts for the Warminster handler.

A winner over a similar trip on the Old Course in November, he returns to Prestbury Park’s New Course on the back of a win in a decent all-weather Flat handicap at Wolverhampton last month.

Scriptwriter takes on seven rivals who include Chepstow’s Grade Two Finale Juvenile Hurdle hero, the Joseph O’Brien-trained Comfort Zone, and Gary Moore’s runaway Newbury winner Jupiter Du Gite, in a warm renewal of the two-mile-one-furlong contest.

Yet Harris is brimming with confidence after overseeing his latest sharpener.

He said: “Scriptwriter went to Kempton on Tuesday and did a little piece of work over a mile.

“He is in a very good place and obviously we had that little run at Wolverhampton, which was good.

“He is a good horse and he seems to have blossomed. He wouldn’t want extreme soft ground, but I don’t think we are going to get that.

“While the race will be a little bit better than it might have been because everywhere else has been off, I’m very happy with him. He’s definitely improved since his first two hurdle runs, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Henri The Second seeks more Grade Two glory
Henri The Second seeks more Grade Two glory (Steven Paston/PA)

Elsewhere on a cracking card, Henri The Second bids to supplement his Winter Novices’ Hurdle success at Sandown with a second Grade Two win in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.

Harry Cobden’s mount, who was runner-up to Chianti Classico on his seasonal bow at Chepstow, will concede weight to all 10 rivals in the extended two-and-a-half-mile contest, which is a slight concern to Paul Nicholls.

The champion trainer said: “He has got a 5lb penalty for winning the Grade Two at Sandown Park before Christmas and that won’t make life easy against good horses.

“He is obviously a nice horse and he has already won a good race this season. He is in good shape and he will stay up that Cheltenham hill, but he has got a big task with the penalty.

“He ran very well last time, however we thought he would go well on his first run but he was a bit green. He is still learning and there is plenty of improvement to come from him yet.

“He wasn’t quite ready for the Leamington at Warwick as he had a hard race at Sandown, so he needed that little bit of extra time, but we have got him back where we want him now.”

Can You Call (right) has impressed the handicapper
Can You Call (right) has impressed the handicapper (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Can You Call, hiked 13lb since winning a heavy-ground Uttoxeter handicap hurdle last time, is one of the challengers.

His trainer, Evan Williams, hopes the eight-year-old can justify his 131 official rating.

He said: “The handicapper obviously thinks we should be in a race like that, taking on those kind of horses, so let’s give it a go.

“I never question the handicapper. He knows, he’s the professional, he’s the man. We just go where the handicapper says we should go. If he says we are up to that class, and says ‘get in there and get your share of 50 grand’, then that’s what we’ll try to do.

“It is a good race, as it should be, but two thirds of the field can’t beat us according to the man at the BHA, so we’re looking forward to picking up the money.”

The Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase comprises 15 runners, headed by last season’s Festival winner Delta Work and 2021 Grand National winner Minella Times.

The 2021 Becher Chase winner Snow Leopardess has her first try over the unique course, which is a test that Back On The Lash has already mastered.

Martin Keighley’s representative won over the same course and three-and-a-quarter-mile distance at last season’s November meeting and the Condicote handler expects a bold show again.

He said: “He’s in great form and hopefully it will go ahead, because he loves it round there. It looks a hot race again, but he’d have a decent chance.”

Flat spin for Triumph hope Scriptwriter at Wolverhampton

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Scriptwriter will have a spin on the all-weather at Wolverhampton on Friday, with Milton Harris keen to get a run into his star juvenile before he continues his Triumph Hurdle build-up over obstacles.

Harris has seen the weather scupper his plans in the last month, with Scriptwriter having intended engagements at both Doncaster and Cheltenham wiped out by the recent cold snap and the ground going against him at Chepstow where he was declared to run in the Coral Finale Juvenile Hurdle.

Now the son of Churchill, who is a best-priced 20-1 for Grade One glory at the Cheltenham Festival, will keep the cogs turning in the 12-furlong Scu Selects Expert Tips By BetUK Handicap at Dunstall Park – a run which will hopefully put him spot on for a return to hurdling at Prestbury Park on January 28.

“He’s been ready to run for a while,” said Harris. “Obviously we had him entered at Cheltenham and Doncaster when we had that bad weather spell and both were abandoned.

“The problem then was finding somewhere to run and Chepstow was never really on our agenda because it is a very dour test for three-year-olds. Even though the ground was probably not as bad as it could be, it still wasn’t nice ground.

“We took the view that this horse has a lot of speed and the plan is to go to Trials Day at Cheltenham and/or the Adonis.

“But he has been ready to run for a while and I felt if we don’t run at Wolverhampton, I need to give him a good piece of work at home here on Friday, so he may as well have a run round for a bit of prize-money at Wolverhampton.

“He’ll be competitive. He’s a good horse. I’m very happy with him and I think he’s improved since last time and we just need to get a run into him. The timing works very well and we’re roughly four weeks from the Cheltenham race.”

With many of the major UK Triumph Hurdle trials falling victim to the recent freeze, the Sutton Veny handler has been a keen observer of the action in Ireland over the past few weeks.

And although impressed by Willie Mullins’ Lossiemouth, who cemented her position as favourite for the juvenile highlight at the Festival with a bloodless victory at Leopardstown, Harris sees no reason why the Scriptwriter should not be in the Triumph Hurdle conversation at this stage.

“Clearly Willie’s horse sets a high standard, but there doesn’t seem the same strength in depth at this stage of the season as maybe there was last year. That’s not to say the favourite isn’t a very good horse, but last year we had the likes of Fil Dor, Vauban and Pied Piper.

“All of these horses are ex-Flat horses and Scriptwriter is the highest rated of all of them. He is rated 102 and has every right to be in the picture.

Scriptwriter ridden by jockey Paddy Brennan (white/red silks) on their way to winning the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham
Scriptwriter ridden by jockey Paddy Brennan (white/red silks) on their way to winning the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham (David Davies/Jockey Club)

“I think he is a different type of horse to Knight Salute, who was a battle-hardened soul. Scriptwriter would have more natural class, so until we realise we’re not good enough, the Triumph Hurdle is our route.”

Harris has developed a real niche for handling juvenile hurdlers in recent years and has plenty of positive words for a trio of three-year-olds who did make the track over the Christmas period.

Highland Frolic and Postmark were both seen in action at Kempton with the former finishing a staying-on third at a big price, while at Fontwell on Boxing Day, Polyphonic recorded a taking 10-length victory.

Although yet to match the levels Scriptwriter has achieved, the Fred Winter on the opening day of the Festival could now come into the reckoning for the talented trio.

“Highland Frolic had a pretty major wind operation and I was delighted with him, bearing in mind halfway down the back he looked as if he would drop away,” continued Harris.

“I think because we’ve had his wind done, it was the first time he realised he could run through it and he’s ended up only being beaten seven lengths. There will be masses of improvement in him, he’s a nice horse.

“I shouldn’t have run Postmark, he’s a better horse than that – don’t give up on him. He just doesn’t want that ground and we took a chance. He’s a good ground horse and you’ll see him in some of the better races in the spring.

“Polyphonic is a different type. The faster they gom the better it’ll suit him and I’ve just got in the back of my mind he might just be OK for the Fred Winter when they go really quick.

“They would all be more than entitled to take their chance. I think (a rating of) 122 got in last year and they would all be in the equation at the moment.”